High School Soccer: Golden Eagles split with Stevens squads

August 26, 2007|By American News Sports Staff

RAPID CITY - The Aberdeen high school soccer teams split on the second day of action at Rapid City. The Golden Eagle boys beat Rapid City Stevens 3-2 on Saturday but the girls' squad lost by an identical 3-2 score. The Aberdeen teams lost both games to Rapid City Central on Friday. A new offensive scheme helped the Golden Eagles to the victory in the boys' contest, said coach Larry Lovrien. “Overnight, coaches Evan Ormand and Randy Turner rethought the personnel assignments and came up with a new formation on who would play where,” said Lovrien. The new plan involved putting Lance Mohr in the backside of the midfield, since teams were using two and three players to defend him, Lovrien said. The new formation made that difficult to do, plus it opened up the middle of the field for Central. “Rapid City went ahead and sagged off him and Mohr was then open to receive passes, which made it much easier to move the ball for us,” Lovrien said. Mohr opened the scoring for the Golden Eagles, finding the back of the net in the 12th minute. Rapid City wasted no time in tying the score, with a goal three minutes later. Mohr registered his second goal of the game in the last minute of the first half, and Central led 2-1 at the break. Nate Sutton extended the Aberdeen lead with a goal 24 minutes into the second half, and the final Rapid City goal was scored six minutes later. Aberdeen goalkeeper Jordan Wilkie made three saves. “The players all understood and executed really well,” said Lovrien of the new formation used Saturday. “I have to give credit to coaches Ormand and Turner for creating a solution. The kids worked hard and played so much better than last night.” The girls' team gave up a couple of early goals but came back to play Stevens even tougher in the second stanza. Both teams attempted eight shots on goal in the final period. “We were a lot better with them in the second half,” said Aberdeen girls' coach Merle Aske. “They had a couple of hustle plays in the first half where they got by our defenders. We caught up to them just as they were shooting. Other than that, it was a good half for us.” Haylee Weisgram scored the first two goals for Stevens, but the Golden Eagles answered with goals by Andrea Joy and Lisa Grandpre in the second half. Hilary Peterson was credited with an assist on Aberdeen's first goal. “We changed up and put more pressure on them in the second half. We changed our formation and went to four backs so our defenders and midfielders had to work harder. We needed to create a couple more scoring opportunities and we didn't quite get it done,” Aske said. Ali Kinzley scored what proved to be the winning goal for the Raiders in the 77th minute. “I'm happy with the direction we're going,” Aske said. “We'll play the top six teams in the state in our first seven games. We have a 1-3 record playing with the best teams in the state. We're more focused and will keep improving. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. We'll get to work on Monday morning.” The Aberdeen Central boys' and girls' soccer teams return to action at Watertown on Friday and at Sioux Falls O'Gorman on Saturday. GIRLS' GAME Rapid City Stevens 3, Aberdeen Central 2 First Half: 1, Rapid City Stevens, Haylee Weisgram (Unassisted), 24:00; 2, Rapid City Stevens, Weisgram (Unassisted), 45:00. Second Half: 3, Aberdeen Central, Andrea Joy (Hilary Peterson), 75:00; 4, Rapid City Stevens, Ali Kinzley (Unassisted), 77:00; 5, Aberdeen Central, Lisa Grandpre (Unassisted), 80:00. Goalies: Aberdeen Central, Rachel Scott, 14 saves; Rapid City Stevens, Silcia Reimann, 5 saves. Shots on Goal: Aberdeen Central, 11; Rapid City Stevens, 22. Junior Varsity: Rapid City Stevens 2, Aberdeen Central 0. BOYS' GAME Aberdeen Central 3, Rapid City Stevens 2 First Half: 1, Aberdeen, Lance Mohr (Greg Malsam), 12:00; 2, Rapid City goal, 15:00; 3, Aberdeen, Mohr, 45:00. Second Half: 4, Aberdeen, Nate Sutton, 69:00; 5, Rapid City goal, 75:00. Goalie: Jordan Wilkie (3 saves). Junior Varsity: Aberdeen Central 2, Rapid City Stevens 1 (Aberdeen goals by Brandon Lewis and Pat Schuchardt).